-# [](https://micro-editor.github.io)
+<img alt="micro logo" src="./assets/micro-logo.svg" width="500px"/>
[](https://travis-ci.org/zyedidia/micro)
[](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/zyedidia/micro)
-[](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
+[](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases)
[](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/blob/master/LICENSE)
-[](https://build.snapcraft.io/user/zyedidia/micro)
+[](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
+[](https://snapcraft.io/micro)
**micro** is a terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use and intuitive, while also taking advantage of the capabilities
-of modern terminals. It comes as a single, batteries-included, static binary with no dependencies; you can download and use it right away.
+of modern terminals. It comes as a single, batteries-included, static binary with no dependencies; you can download and use it right now!
As its name indicates, micro aims to be somewhat of a successor to the nano editor by being easy to install and use.
It strives to be enjoyable as a full-time editor for people who prefer to work in a terminal, or those who regularly edit files over SSH.
-To see more screenshots of micro, showcasing all of the default color schemes, see [here](http://zbyedidia.webfactional.com/micro/screenshots.html).
+To see more screenshots of micro, showcasing some of the default color schemes, see [here](https://micro-editor.github.io).
+
+You can also check out the website for Micro at https://micro-editor.github.io.
## Table of Contents
- [Features](#features)
- [Installation](#installation)
- - [Prebuilt binaries](#prebuilt-binaries)
+ - [Prebuilt binaries](#pre-built-binaries)
- [Package Managers](#package-managers)
- [Building from source](#building-from-source)
+ - [Fully static binary](#fully-static-binary)
- [macOS terminal](#macos-terminal)
- [Linux clipboard support](#linux-clipboard-support)
- [Colors and syntax highlighting](#colors-and-syntax-highlighting)
- - [Plan9, Cygwin](#plan9-cygwin)
+ - [Cygwin, Mingw, Plan9](#cygwin-mingw-plan9)
- [Usage](#usage)
- [Documentation and Help](#documentation-and-help)
- [Contributing](#contributing)
+- - -
+
## Features
- Easy to use and install.
- No dependencies or external files are needed — just the binary you can download further down the page.
- Multiple cursors.
-- Common keybindings (<kbd>Ctrl+S</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl+C</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl+V</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl+Z</kbd>, …).
+- Common keybindings (<kbd>Ctrl-s</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl-c</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl-v</kbd>, <kbd>Ctrl-z</kbd>, …).
- Keybindings can be rebound to your liking.
- Sane defaults.
- You shouldn't have to configure much out of the box (and it is extremely easy to configure).
- Extremely good mouse support.
- This means mouse dragging to create a selection, double click to select by word, and triple click to select by line.
- Cross-platform (it should work on all the platforms Go runs on).
- - Note that while Windows is supported, there are still some bugs that need to be worked out.
+ - Note that while Windows is supported Mingw/Cygwin is not (see below).
- Plugin system (plugins are written in Lua).
- - micro has a built-in plugin manager to automatically install, remove, and update all your plugins.
+ - micro has a built-in plugin manager to automatically install, remove, and update plugins.
+- Built-in diff gutter.
+- Simple autocompletion.
- Persistent undo.
-- Automatic linting and error notifications
-- Syntax highlighting for over [90 languages](runtime/syntax).
+- Automatic linting and error notifications.
+- Syntax highlighting for over [130 languages](runtime/syntax).
- Color scheme support.
- By default, micro comes with 16, 256, and true color themes.
- True color support (set the `MICRO_TRUECOLOR` environment variable to 1 to enable it).
-- Snippets.
- - The snippet plugin can be installed with `> plugin install snippets`.
- Copy and paste with the system clipboard.
- Small and simple.
- Easily configurable.
- Macros.
- Common editor features such as undo/redo, line numbers, Unicode support, soft wrapping, …
-Although not yet implemented, I hope to add more features such as autocompletion ([#174](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues/174)) or a tree view ([#249](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues/249)) in the future.
-
## Installation
To install micro, you can download a [prebuilt binary](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases), or you can build it from source.
If you want more information about ways to install micro, see this [wiki page](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/wiki/Installing-Micro).
-### Prebuilt binaries
-
-All you need to install micro is one file, the binary itself. It's as simple as that!
+Use `micro -version` to get the version information after installing. It is only guaranteed that you are installing the most recent
+stable version if you install from the prebuilt binaries, Homebrew, or Snap.
-Download the binary from the [releases](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases) page.
+A desktop entry file and man page can be found in the [assets/packaging](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/assets/packaging) directory.
-On that page you'll see the nightly release, which contains binaries for micro which are built every night,
-and you'll see all the stable releases with the corresponding binaries.
+### Pre-built binaries
-If you'd like to see more information after installing micro, run `micro -version`.
+Pre-built binaries are distributed with [releases](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/releases).
-### Installation script
+To uninstall micro, simply remove the binary, and the configuration directory at `~/.config/micro`.
-There is a script which can install micro for you by downloading the latest prebuilt binary. You can find it at <https://getmic.ro>.
-
-Then you can easily install micro:
+#### Quick-install script
```bash
curl https://getmic.ro | bash
```
-The script will install the micro binary to the current directory. See its [GitHub repository](https://github.com/benweissmann/getmic.ro) for more information.
+The script will place the micro binary in the current directory. From there, you can move it to a directory on your path of your choosing (e.g. `sudo mv micro /usr/bin`). See its [GitHub repository](https://github.com/benweissmann/getmic.ro) for more information.
-### Package managers
+#### Eget
-You can install micro using Homebrew on Mac:
+With [Eget](https://github.com/zyedidia/eget) installed, you can easily get a pre-built binary:
```
-brew install micro
+eget zyedidia/micro
```
-On Windows, you can install micro through [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/) or [Scoop](https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop):
+Use `--tag VERSION` to download a specific tagged version.
```
-choco install micro
+eget --tag nightly zyedidia/micro # download the nightly version (compiled every day at midnight UTC)
+eget --tag v2.0.8 zyedidia/micro # download version 2.0.8 rather than the latest release
```
-or
+You can install `micro` by adding `--to /usr/local/bin` to the `eget` command, or move the binary manually to a directory on your `$PATH` after the download completes.
+
+See [Eget](https://github.com/zyedidia/eget) for more information.
+
+### Package managers
+
+You can install micro using Homebrew on Mac:
```
-scoop install micro
+brew install micro
```
+**Note for Mac:** All micro keybindings use the control or alt (option) key, not the command
+key. By default, macOS terminals do not forward alt key events. To fix this, please see
+the section on [macOS terminals](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro#macos-terminal) further below.
+
On Linux, you can install micro through [snap](https://snapcraft.io/docs/core/install)
```
snap install micro --classic
```
-On OpenBSD, micro is available in the ports tree. It is also available as a binary package.
-
-```
-pkg_add -v micro
-```
+**Note for Linux:** for interfacing with the local system clipboard, `xclip` or `xsel`
+must be installed. Please see the section on [Linux clipboard support](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro#linux-clipboard-support)
+further below.
+
+Micro is also available through other package managers on Linux such dnf, AUR, Nix, and package managers
+for other operating systems. These packages are not guaranteed to be up-to-date.
+
+<!-- * `apt install micro` (Ubuntu 20.04 `focal`, and Debian `unstable | testing | buster-backports`). At the moment, this package (2.0.1-1) is outdated and has a known bug where debug mode is enabled. -->
+
+* Linux: Available in distro-specific package managers.
+ * `dnf install micro` (Fedora).
+ * `pacman -S micro` (Arch Linux).
+ * `eopkg install micro` (Solus).
+ * See [wiki](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/wiki/Installing-Micro) for details about CRUX, Termux.
+* Windows: [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org) and [Scoop](https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop).
+ * `choco install micro`.
+ * `scoop install micro`.
+* OpenBSD: Available in the ports tree and also available as a binary package.
+ * `pkd_add -v micro`.
+* NetBSD, macOS, Linux, Illumos, etc. with [pkgsrc](http://www.pkgsrc.org/)-current:
+ * `pkg_add micro`
+* macOS with [MacPorts](https://www.macports.org):
+ * `sudo port install micro`
### Building from source
If your operating system does not have a binary release, but does run Go, you can build from source.
-Make sure that you have Go version 1.5 or greater; Go 1.4 will only work if your version supports cgo.
+Make sure that you have Go version 1.16 or greater and Go modules are enabled.
```
-go get -d github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro
-cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/zyedidia/micro
-make install
+git clone https://github.com/zyedidia/micro
+cd micro
+make build
+sudo mv micro /usr/local/bin # optional
```
-The binary will then be installed to `$GOPATH/bin` (or your `$GOBIN`).
+The binary will be placed in the current directory and can be moved to
+anywhere you like (for example `/usr/local/bin`).
+
+The command `make install` will install the binary to `$GOPATH/bin` or `$GOBIN`.
-Please make sure that when you are working with micro's code, you are working on your `GOPATH`.
+You can install directly with `go get` (`go get github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro`) but this isn't
+recommended because it doesn't build micro with version information (necessary for the plugin manager),
+and doesn't disable debug mode.
-You can install directly with `go get` (`go get -u github.com/zyedidia/micro/cmd/micro`) but this is not recommended because it doesn't build micro with version information which is useful for the plugin manager.
+### Fully static binary
+
+By default, the micro binary will dynamically link with core system libraries (this is generally
+recommended for security and portability). However, there is a fully static prebuilt binary that
+is provided for amd64 as `linux-static.tar.gz`, and to build a fully static binary from source, run
+
+```
+CGO_ENABLED=0 make build
+```
### macOS terminal
-If you are using macOS, you should consider using [iTerm2](http://iterm2.com/) instead of the default terminal (Terminal.app). The iTerm2 terminal has much better mouse support as well as better handling of key events. For best keybinding behavior, choose `xterm defaults` under `Preferences->Profiles->Keys->Load Preset`. The newest versions also support true color.
+If you are using macOS, you should consider using [iTerm2](http://iterm2.com/) instead of the default terminal (Terminal.app). The iTerm2 terminal has much better mouse support as well as better handling of key events. For best keybinding behavior, choose `xterm defaults` under `Preferences->Profiles->Keys->Presets...`, and select `Esc+` for `Left Option Key` in the same menu. The newest versions also support true color.
+
+If you still insist on using the default Mac terminal, be sure to set `Use Option key as Meta key` under
+`Preferences->Profiles->Keyboard` to use <kbd>option</kbd> as <kbd>alt</kbd>.
### Linux clipboard support
-On Linux, clipboard support requires the `xclip` or `xsel` commands to be installed.
+On Linux, clipboard support requires:
-For Ubuntu:
+- On X11, the `xclip` or `xsel` commands (for Ubuntu: `sudo apt install xclip`)
+- On Wayland, the `wl-clipboard` command
-```sh
-sudo apt-get install xclip
-```
-
-If you don't have `xclip` or `xsel`, micro will use an internal clipboard for copy and paste, but it won't work with external applications.
+If you don't have these commands, micro will use an internal clipboard for copy and paste, but it won't work with external applications.
### Colors and syntax highlighting
If you open micro and it doesn't seem like syntax highlighting is working, this is probably because
you are using a terminal which does not support 256 color mode. Try changing the color scheme to `simple`
-by pressing <kbd>Ctrl+E</kbd> in micro and typing `set colorscheme simple`.
+by pressing <kbd>Ctrl-e</kbd> in micro and typing `set colorscheme simple`.
If you are using the default Ubuntu terminal, to enable 256 make sure your `TERM` variable is set
to `xterm-256color`.
Many of the Windows terminals don't support more than 16 colors, which means
that micro's default color scheme won't look very good. You can either set
-the color scheme to `simple`, or download a better terminal emulator, like
-mintty.
+the color scheme to `simple`, or download and configure a better terminal emulator
+than the Windows default.
+
+### Cygwin, Mingw, Plan9
+
+Cygwin, Mingw, and Plan9 are unfortunately not officially supported. In Cygwin and Mingw, micro will often work when run using
+the `winpty` utility:
-### Plan9, Cygwin
+```
+winpty micro.exe ...
+```
-Please note that micro uses the amazing [tcell library](https://github.com/gdamore/tcell), but this
+Micro uses the amazing [tcell library](https://github.com/gdamore/tcell), but this
means that micro is restricted to the platforms tcell supports. As a result, micro does not support
-Plan9, and Cygwin (although this may change in the future). micro also doesn't support NaCl (which is deprecated anyway).
+Plan9, and Cygwin (although this may change in the future). Micro also doesn't support NaCl (which is deprecated anyway).
## Usage
-Once you have built the editor, simply start it by running `micro path/to/file.txt` or simply `micro` to open an empty buffer.
+Once you have built the editor, start it by running `micro path/to/file.txt` or `micro` to open an empty buffer.
micro also supports creating buffers from `stdin`:
## Documentation and Help
-micro has a built-in help system which you can access by pressing <kbd>Ctrl+E</kbd> and typing `help`. Additionally, you can
+micro has a built-in help system which you can access by pressing <kbd>Ctrl-e</kbd> and typing `help`. Additionally, you can
view the help files here:
- [main help](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/help.md)
I also recommend reading the [tutorial](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/tree/master/runtime/help/tutorial.md) for
a brief introduction to the more powerful configuration features micro offers.
+There is also an unofficial Discord, which you can join at https://discord.gg/nhWR6armnR.
+
## Contributing
If you find any bugs, please report them! I am also happy to accept pull requests from anyone.
You can use the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/zyedidia/micro/issues)
to report bugs, ask questions, or suggest new features.
-For a more informal setting to discuss the editor, you can join the [Gitter chat](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro).
+For a more informal setting to discuss the editor, you can join the [Gitter chat](https://gitter.im/zyedidia/micro) or the [Discord](https://discord.gg/nhWR6armnR).
+
+Sometimes I am unresponsive, and I apologize! If that happens, please ping me.
projects / micro.git / blobdiff